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Pain Relief During and After the Birth
In China it is 30 days and is referred to as “doing the month” or “sitting month” .
In some other countries, taking time off from work to care for a newborn is called “maternity leave” or “parental leave” and can vary from a few days to several months.
Pain
Pain levels reported by labouring women vary widely.
Pain levels seem to be influenced by fear and anxiety levels, experience with prior childbirth, cultural ideas of childbirth and pain, mobility during labour and the support given during labour.
One study found that middle-eastern women, especially those with a low educational background, had more painful experiences during childbirth.
Pain is only one factor of many influencing women’s experience with the process of childbirth.
A systematic review of 137 studies found that personal expectations, the amount of support from caregivers, quality of the caregiver-patient relationship, and involvement in decisionmaking are more important in women’s overall satisfaction with the experience of childbirth than are other factors such as age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, preparation, physical environment, pain, immobility, or medical interventions.
Descriptions
Pain in contractions has been described as feeling like a very strong menstrual cramp. Midwives often encourage refraining from screaming but recommend moaning and grunting to relieve some pain.
Crowning will feel like intense stretching and burning. Even women who show little reaction to labor pains often show a reaction to crowning.
Some women like to have someone to support them during labor and birth, such as the father of the baby, the woman’s mother, a sister, a close friend, a partner or a doula.
Some women deliver in a squatting or crawling position in order to more effectively push during the second stage and so that gravity can aid the descent of the baby through the birth canal.
The human body also has a chemical response to pain, by releasing endorphins. Endorphins are present before, during, and immediately after childbirth.
Some homebirth advocates believe that this hormone can induce feelings of pleasure and euphoria during childbirth, reducing the risk of maternal depression some weeks later.
Water birth is an option chosen by some women for pain relief during labor and childbirth, and some studies have shown waterbirth in an uncomplicated pregnancy to reduce the need for analgesia, without evidence of increased risk to mother or newborn. Hot water tubs are available in many hospitals and birthing centres.
Meditation and mind medicine techniques for the use of pain control during labour and delivery. These techniques are used in conjunction with progressive muscle relaxation and many other forms of relaxation for the mind and body to aid in pain control for women during childbirth. One such technique is the use of hypnosis in childbirth.
Medical pain control
Different measures for pain control have varying degrees of success and side effects to the woman and her baby. In some countries of Europe, doctors commonly prescribe inhaled nitrous oxide gas for pain control; in the UK, midwives may use this gas without a doctor’s prescription. Pethidine (with or without promethazine) may be used early in labour, as well as other opioids, but if given too close to birth there is a risk of respiratory depression in the infant.
Popular medical pain control in hospitals include the regional anesthetics epidural blocks, and spinal anaesthesia.
Epidural analgesia is a generally safe and effective method of relieving pain in labour, but is associated with longer labour, more operative intervention (particularly instrument delivery), and increases in cost.
One study found that the women receiving epidural analgesia had more fear before the administering of the epidural than those who did not receive it, but that they did not necessarily have more pain.